check all your ide cables and ide connections

Brian Graham
Pearl River Central School District Systems Administrator
_________________________________________
bgraham@prchs.k12.ms.us

All connectors seem to be intact and in thier right location, any other ideas. I had to remove the primary IDE connector to get to the secondary but it went back together as it was .

Can you get to the BIOS? Might try there and see if all drives are on auto. Probably not the problem, but won't hurt to check.

Glen
4100 933Mhz
19VH001
FFD4001
Win98SE

Did you install the CDRW on the same IDE controller as your hard drive? If so, did you set the jumpers on your hard drive and CDRW properly (to Master/Slave or Cable Select)? Are your IDE cables plugged into the drives the right way? The colored side of the cable (usually red) should be nearest to where you plug in the power connector. You did plug in the power connectors, didn't you? Did you check your BIOS settings to make sure that they are set to auto detect IDE devices? Post back here and let us know if you solved the problem.

Oops, sorry thomcat. stepped on you.

Glen
4100 933Mhz
19VH001
FFD4001
Win98SE

I have been there and all drives were set to auto. I appreciate your help!! Any other ideas??
I can't understand why it will not work, it looks like it should, it is all back the way it was but still does not work. Should I try using another IDE cable between the motherboard and the hard drive, maybe a cable/connector problem?

I installed the CDRW on the same IDE controller asthe existing CDROM. The CDROM is set to master and the CDRW is set to slave. I have the power connected, and the cable does not have a colour on it. The cable has a connector on it and is connecteb to the motherboard. The other end of the cable has 2 connectors on it acouple of inches apart, one connected to the CDROM, one to the CDRW. Before I installed the CDRW this connector was in the other way. I thought it was a bi-directional cable so I reveresed it so the cable could connect to both drives, could this be a problem??
I appreciate your help , any other ideas??

Thank-you

The cables aren't reversible in that the red side must be connected to pin 1, The cable should have a notch protruding on it. Check that if you can't see the pin number. The red line is usually on the inside after it is hooked up and not on the outer edge.

Glen
4100 933Mhz
19VH001
FFD4001
Win98SE

I am sorry i don't quite understand. Is the red on the cable or on the connector? the connector is in the slot and the notch is in the slot on the drive? Any idea why it is affecting the primary hard drive? Will the connector on the motherboad go either way I don't remember if there was a slot for the notch on the cable,
I will have to check

Thanks again

No, the connector will not go either way. Red line is also at pin 1.

Glen
4100 933Mhz
19VH001
FFD4001
Win98SE

The color that I am referring to is on one edge of the flat IDE cable, not the connector. The pins on the cable are all numbered with Pin 1 being on the side with the colored edge. When plugged into your drive, the colored edge of that cable will be closest to where you plug in the power connector on the drive. You must make sure that the cables are plugged in correctly on both the motherboard and each drive. Did you unplug the cable(s) from the motherboard at all? The hard drive should plug into the primary IDE controller and your CD drives plug into the secondary IDE controller. Double check all your connections (to each drive and to the motherboard) again.

no problem!

yes, I did remove the HD IDE cable in order to replace the old secondary IDE, but I thought it could only go in one way. Can they be reversed? would the notch not prevent that?
I will check it out tomorrow, thanks again for your time and patience.

Everything, and I mean everything that connects to your motherboard is meant to plug in one way only. You cannot reverse things without causing a whole lot of problems. I've seen older IDE cables without notches; but if your cable has a notch on it, it should only fit in the motherboard connector one way...the correct way. Make sure that the cable is plugged in all the way. It should fit snuggly. If it's not pushed in all the way, you will have problems.

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Message Edited on 12/19/01 10:24PM by XPST650R